O'Donnell down 15 points in new poll

A new FoxNews poll, conducted Sept. 18 and released Tuesday, shows Democratic Senate nominee Chris Coons leadng Republican Christine O’Donnell by 15 points, 54 percent to 39 percent. Sixty percent of those surveyed said O’Donnell is not qualified to be a U.S. senator, while 59 percent said Coons is qualified.

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Likely voters would have backed Rep. Mike Castle, the moderate Republican who lost to O’Donnell, over Coons by a double-digit margin, 48 percent to 33 percent.

But the poll’s other questions also reveal an antipathy to the “tea party” among the state’s electorate.

More of the 1,000 likely voters surveyed — 46 percent — disapprove of the job President Barack Obama is doing than the 45 percent who approve. But that’s not translating into support for the tea party wing of the GOP: 40 percent of those surveyed strongly oppose the tea party, and just 21 percent strongly support it.

And for Democrats facing a possible enthusiasm gap, there’s some good news in what’s driving likely voters: 41 percent of respondents said their Senate vote would express opposition to the tea party, while just 26 percent responded that they would vote to express their support.

Still, the poll shows that most Delawareans adhere to the tea party’s basic ideological tenants: Half of those surveyed said they would support repealing the health care law, and 53 percent said they would prefer smaller government with fewer services to a larger government that offered more.